1. Technical Field
This invention relates to water flow valves and, more particularly, to a temperature-activated water flow valve for providing users with a convenient means of automatically discharging the flow of heated water from a water hose to a swimming a pool.
2. Prior Art
In a variety of forms, warmth is relaxing and pleasurable to most people—basking in the sun; sitting by an open fire or a woodstove; reclining in a hot bath, whirlpool or spa; dressing in a warm room; a warm, dry towel after a shower or bath—all of these experiences are enjoyable. Many of them require some form of heating assembly, and heating assemblies of many types are widely available to fulfill the requirements. In some cases, however, the available heating assemblies have significant disadvantages. An example of an extremely costly and wasteful use of heat for comfort and pleasure is a heated swimming pool or hot tub. The installation for heating swimming pools and hot tubs costs several thousands of dollars, and many hundreds of dollars have to be spent for fuel each year. For example, the water for bathtubs, spas, hot tubs, whirlpools and the like is almost always heated by a water heater. In most installations the water in those vessels cannot be re-circulated through the water heater, so the only way to maintain or increase the water temperature is to add more hot water, perhaps releasing some of the cooled water to make room for the added hot water.
In an attempt to eliminate the excessive amounts of electrical or gas energy necessary to adequately heat the water of certain pools and hot tubs, solar heating applications have been introduced into the art. Such solar water heaters typically consist of a water reservoir and solar heating compartment for transferring the heat of the sun's rays to the water contained within the assembly. Unfortunately, there is no convenient low-cost means of allowing such solar heating applications to automatically release the heated water when it has reached a desired temperature.
Accordingly, a need remains for a temperature-activated water flow valve that is removably connected to a hose in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a assembly that is convenient and easy to use, is durable yet lightweight in design, is versatile in its applications, and inexpensively and automatically sends pulses of inexpensive solar-heated water into a pool.